Outdoor adventures: Focusing on the positives of rainfall, flooding

Good gracious, I hope someone is building an ark somewhere. I knew that we were gonna catch up on rainfall. I was just hoping we wouldn’t get it all at once.

But what you want and what you get are two different things. With a crest predicted to be at 13.5 feet, it ain’t the biggest flood we’ve ever had, but that’s still some serious water.

I am not a farmer by any stretch of the imagination, but going from burned, dried-up crops to possibly not being able to get in the fields is definitely extreme. I guess it’s the same as going from not having enough water to float your boat off your trailer to not being able to even find a ramp.

The flood is just everywhere. It’s on roads and bridges and every field. Like I said a few weeks ago, though, I was hoping for one more good old flushing. Well, we got it.

I think what is going on here is that all of our prayers for rain from last year are just now being answered. The thought of this much water seemed like more of a fairytale than anything else when we were hoping for rain. Insert that old standby, “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it” right about here.

Anywho, things are setting up real well for an amazing mushroom season. We have all the rain we need, and it is just a matter of a few days of sunshine, and morels will be popping.

This rain and high water also has us set up for a terrific season of fishing. With all the cover and area that fish have available to them, it should be a great spawn with a lot of big fish able to dodge fishing pressure and do their thing. It also puts these fish in pretty predictable areas come post-spawn time.

Every species of fish in the river systems benefit from this high-water run. Just what the doctor ordered.

I tell you this for sure: This water is awesome for one of the greatest types of fishing you will ever do.

See, catfish are not the pure bottom feeder that most think they are. In this high-water period, get out and give this a try.

Set a bobber about 18 inches up your line. Below it, run a J & N dip worm with sponge. Run a small split shot right down to the top of the worm. This will get the worm to float at about a 45-degree angle. Coat that bad boy with some G & S cheese bait and let it float in a couple of feet of water around the flooded trees. Man, this is a ton of fun. I still love to watch a bobber go down, just like a kid does.

Last but not least, please be extremely careful around the river right now. It is not hard to find yourself in a situation beyond your control, so be safe.